Mytheresa’s New Hamptons Pop-up With Porsche, Flamingo Estate Sells Fine Jewelry, Electric Cars

Mytheresa is hitting the Hamptons.

The luxury fashion platform is once again teaming with high-end apothecary Flamingo Estate for a pop-up set in the former auto body shop at 9 Railroad Avenue in East Hampton, N.Y.

The two had a five-week run in the space last summer and have returned for eight weeks this year with a new concept that will get an extra kick from Porsche and be open Thursdays through Sundays.

The Mytheresa x Flamingo Estate Summer Railroad Racetrack opened on Friday, just in time for the second weekend of summer and, of course, the traffic, the beach and all the rest of it.

This time through, the seasonal shop will feature women’s, men’s and children’s fashion, accessories, fine jewelry and watches from brands that sell on Mytheresa, including Khaite, Valentino, Etro, Dries Van Noten, Missoni, Brunello Cucinelli, Bode and more. Flamingo Estate’s “Inconvenience Store” will stock apothecary and pantry products, from candles and soaps to pasta and other goodies.

Playing to the space and the partners, the pop-up features a miniature racetrack garden, with cars zipping by Mytheresa and Flamingo Estate products. Other features include a custom-fabricated arena seating, a game room with racing video games and a VIP lounge.

As the miniatures race on the track inside, Porsche will also have the real deal outside with the Macan, its all-electric SUV, on display, and test drives in the Taycan all-electric sedan.

The space will host events with brands like Etro, Missoni and Savette, energy readings with a healer, cocktails and appointments with Mytheresa personal shoppers.

While the looks on display will be for sale, Heather Kaminetsky, Mytheresa’s president of North America, said the focus isn’t on driving revenues immediately, but establishing ties with shoppers, who have to give a valid email and mobile number to enter the space.

“When we were building Mytheresa in the U.S., one of the things we quickly noticed is that when we’re physically able to engage with people in any environment — whether it’s a dinner or with our product — creating moments with people has enabled us to grow this business,” Kaminetsky said. “It’s all about connections.

“We do sell, but we don’t have a tremendous catalog within the store,” she said. “So what happens is people come in, they’ll see something, they’ll connect with a personal shopper. And then many times there would be a sale, not from the floor per se, but someone would shop and get the size and color they wanted through the personal shopper.”

Many customers who visited the shop last year stuck with Mytheresa after summer faded.

“This is about customer acquisition as well as engagement,” she said. “We followed the cohort [that visited the shop] all year to see, and we were able to acquire new customers and engage with many customers who had shopped us previously. Now we’re seeing more of a share of wallet of those who actually entered our physical manifestation. That’s why we’re back.”

The past year has been a tough one for other luxury e-commerce platforms, with Matches going bust and the Farfetch fire sale, but Mytheresa has been holding its own and growing at the high end of the luxury spectrum.

“Business is tremendous and people are wearing wardrobe luxury head to toe,” Kaminetsky said. “That’s a big differentiator in our business.”

While luxury businesses often turn on accoutrements, especially shoes, bags and accessories, she said ready-to-wear has been key to Mytheresa’s success.

For the third quarter ended March 31, the Munich-based Mytheresa drove sales up 17.6 percent to 234 million euros while adjusted net income nearly tripped to 4.1 million euros. When the company reported results, chief executive officer Michael Kliger told WWD that the U.S. and customers who spent at least six figures annually were two of the quarter’s key growth drivers.

There are only so many people who can be that kind of high roller, so Mytheresa wants to be where they are.

“When I think about all the places where a lot of luxury enthusiasts reside, one of the areas has always been the Hamptons,” Kaminetsky said.

The pop-up offers a fun and easy way for people to get to know Mytheresa better.

The front room, which is painted purple and features the race track, has a lot of energy, while the back room features what Kaminetsky described as “much more of a lounge vibe, where you could go in, decompress, where we have fine and high jewelry for you to try on, see, touch, feel, and just discuss.”

The pop-up will also have some home products, like lamps or trays — and a little bit of the unexpected.

“I have found that pop-ups work well because of this element of surprise and delight,” Kaminetsky said.

But she doesn’t expect Mytheresa’s desire to connect IRL to lead to more of its own stores (the business has its roots in a Munich boutique).

“When people want product from us, they’ll order online and it arrives so quickly, honestly, that I don’t see a future of us opening more permanent retail locations at this time,” she said.